This invention relates to inspection of ships' hulls. More particularly, this invention is to a system and method for optically and acoustically inspecting the entire hulls of ships that can be underway toward or away from a harbor or other protected anchorage.
Current methods of inspecting ships' hulls have required divers to inspect the hull either manually or with hand held sonar devices. These methods are man-power intensive and expensive. There are areas along the hull that it is considered unsafe for diver operations limiting a complete hull search. Divers are not currently able to navigate to a great degree of accuracy to ensure a complete search of the assigned areas, further limiting the percent of the hull inspected. The ship and harbor area can be tied up for the duration of the inspection.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for a means for optically and acoustically inspecting hulls of ships thoroughly and quickly before the ships enter or exit a harbor or other area of interest.